Used Land Rover Discovery long-term test: report 4
Our deputy editor thinks that by choosing a used company car, he can live the high life on a budget – over the new few months, we'll see if that's the case...
The car Land Rover Discovery D350 35th Edition Run by Darren Moss, deputy editor
Why it’s here To show that you don’t have to buy new to enjoy big-car luxury
Needs to Be both practical and comfortable for family trips, cosseting on the motorway and unflinchingly reliable
Mileage on arrival 13,325 Mileage now 14,822 List price when new £82,925 Value on arrival £65,900 Official economy 33.4mpg Test economy 30.5mpg
10 February 2026 – Mud-plugging master
While I’ve now covered quite a few miles in my Land Rover Discovery, they had all been on sealed roads – until the other day. That’s right: because one of the key selling points of my car is its ability to keep going when the going gets tough, I decided to take it off-roading to see how it would fare.
Fortunately, every Approved Used Land Rover comes with a free half-day off-roading experience at any one of the brand’s nine UK experience centres – designed not only to showcase what the cars are capable of, but also to give owners the confidence to tackle difficult terrain.
I chose the flagship centre in the gorgeous surroundings of Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, where instructor Dan explained that we’d be taking on some of the most challenging routes the venue has to offer – despite the fact that my Discovery isn’t fitted with special off-road tyres.
As we waded through water that at one point came up past the door sills and submerged the front-facing camera, I’ll admit I was worried. But I needn’t have been, because no matter what we threw at my Discovery, it simply carried on – whether that was rocks that looked tailor-made to cause a puncture, mud ruts that wouldn’t have been out of place in a war movie, or the kind of slopes you’d expect to see on a mountainside.
Of course, there’s a lot of clever tech helping to ensure this, but, as Dan explained, the Discovery is designed to make off-roading as easy as possible. And as I got to grips with its various off-road systems – from the camera that allowed me to see what was going on beneath the car, to its Low-Traction Launch feature, which is designed to get you moving again after stopping on a slippery surface – I began to feel supremely confident.
After trawling through an industrial amount of mud, and via a quick stop at a car wash, I drove my car home in exactly the same comfort as on any other journey. And while I probably won’t tackle my next commute as the crow flies, I’m confident that my car could if needed. I can’t think of many cars you could say the same about.
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